Los Angeles TIMES: A Train Wreck Presidency

[kpete]

Last edited Sun Apr 2, 2017, 04:31 PM - Edit history (3)

April 2, 2017
A Los Angeles Times editorial:



It was no secret during the campaign that Donald Trump was a narcissist and a demagogue who used fear and dishonesty to appeal to the worst in American voters. The Times called him unprepared and unsuited for the job he was seeking, and said his election would be a “catastrophe.”

Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.

Instead, seventy-some days in — and with about 1,400 to go before his term is completed — it is increasingly clear that those hopes were misplaced… What is most worrisome about Trump is Trump himself. He is a man so unpredictable, so reckless, so petulant, so full of blind self-regard, so untethered to reality that it is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation.”



MORE:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-overview-20170402-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/












We warned you, but you didn’t listen.

[Demsrule86]

1. He is a disaster and if the GOP care anything for this country, they

would get him out.

[Ligyron]

2. It was there for all to see and they ignored it or voted for him anyway.

Because anything was better than Hillary, right?

[dalton99a]

4. Yep. And because they are brainwashed bigots.

[calimary]

10. And they're ALL turning up in the comments section.

I read this shit (Politico has a lot of them, too) and just shake my head in near-dispair. THIS is the problem. THEY are the problem. Voters or bots - either way. Bots are terrible of course, but the idiot brainwashed voters are worse. They're OKAY with this. They're still in the "Obama this" or "Hillary that." They still believe this shit. If the comments are to be believed, that is.

SO damned discouraging.

[John Lee Pettimore]

14. Most of the comments are probably real.

I live in a red area of a red state. This is how the trumpsuckers think. They are all ditto heads.

[dalton99a]

15. They parrot the same crap in real life

I hear it all the time

[calimary]

16. Welcome to DU, John Lee Pettimore!

Last edited Sun Apr 2, 2017, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

My condolences on what surrounds you.

And I know you're right. And it's just BEYOND discouraging.

Is there something, anything you can do about that? Is there an Indivisible group in your area? ANY Democratic club you can join?

Do they need support?

Gotta tell you - just since January, I've been to a series of meetings of the Palisades Democratic Club (of which I've been a member for awhile), the Santa Monica Democratic Club (which I've now joined), and other groups I've since discovered and joined: the Monkey Wrench Brigade, Code Blue, Flippable.org. It's been like a big Vitamin B shot in the ass for me since January. I was active before. But now I'm REALLY active! And I MUST tell you that and at some point in ALL of those groups' presentations is about sister clubs. FINDING them. And PARTNERING with them. Helping other Democrats elsewhere.

I'm relieved and gratified to say we're true blue where I live. A deeply royally cobalt true blue district in a true blue state. It's WUNNNNNNNderful! But there's also a growing awareness of the urgency to partner with other Democrats elsewhere. "Adopt a District" movements. "Sister Districts" movements. Reaching out to other Democratic clubs in other states and counties that might need help. It's ON the radar now. And we're probably not alone in that, in my district. A BUNCH of us are focusing on "Flipping 25" - Steve Knight's district in Northern LA county, for example. Darrell Issa's district to the south of us. And there are five more just near and around SoCal that are now being targeted to take back from the CONS. The Code Blue folks came to the Palisades Dems meeting last weekend and gave a great and detailed presentation. They've thought this out carefully and strategically. And it's GAME ON.

There IS help to be had. If you are part of a local Dem group, let them know, and have them contact Dems like us in safe blue districts. If you're not a member of one of those groups in your area, FIND ONE AND JOIN ONE! If it's really bad where you are and there's no gathering of like-minded folks, talk to some of your friends and start one if you can. And then reach out to other blue-staters for help. DO IT. You might find there are more Dems in your area than you realized, and they're parched with political thirst for help and solidarity and support. Seriously. I know people who drove to freakin' Nevada to help Catherine Cortez Masto. And it WORKED! And maybe you can flip your district from red to blue that way. And from there, you BUILD. I remember when Howard Dean took over the DNC and implemented his 50-State Strategy. He met with Dems in deep red Southern states who were literally STARVING for support and feeling left out and abandoned and ignored - who were there and wanted to help, but, again, there was NO support. At least til Howard Dean came along. And on his watch we won the House and the Senate back, and we also got the White House back. So now, it appears WE Dems at the grassroots level have wised up and now are implementing our own home-grown 50-State Strategy.

There IS help out there. And you never know what a difference you'll make if you just get started.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Wow. More to come--part of a series by the LA Times Editorial Board.

[roamer65]

5. Next step is a call for impeachment.

[GWC58]

6. "A train wreck" is

putting it mildly. How about a 9 on the Richter scale?

[SharonAnn]

9. I was in the 8.9 earthquake in Santiago, Chile. This is much worse.

[calimary]

7. HE even warned us.

"I wanna be unpredictable!" Remember that? I forget who was conducting that interview, but it was pretty doggone early in the campaign. HE SAID THAT.

Unpredictable GOOD! Because Deals! Making DEALS dontchaknow. The best deals...

[DarleenMB]

8. Let's not let the GOP off the hook

They are complicit in all of this as they turn a blind eye to his inability to act like an adult, let alone govern our country.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Many thanks to the awesome WRITERS, who are putting their gifts to work....

to describe this regime. They so often say things which are floating in my head but which I can't quite express. Then along comes a professional writer.....

[DK504]

12. I think the LA Times is generous

"Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, ... "

Who actually thought he would any better than who he is, who he has always been and his desire for power will be a slide down a mountain that will take decades to fix. It is time to push for impeachment, he is unstable and uncaring about what laws he bulldozers over.

[Quixote1818]

13. The fact that his mental health is so tied to his fame and fortune and reputation is what worries me

because after everything that is connected to you is involved in the train wreck and you walk back to look at it, someone like him might fucking lose his mind on an epic level.

[Blue_Tires]

17. If only someone tried to warn them

[kentuck]

18. He is the face of America to the world.

Whether we like it or not.

I think the majority of America does not like it.